Three Imaginary Girls - The Blakes

GIVE-ing season arrived this week -- with a 30+ track local artist compilation

imaginary victoria — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:58:24 +0000

Fresh off the presses from our inboxes comes this week's launch of GIVE -- 30 downloadable tracks from a variety of Seattle artists, who are donating their songs to benefit Arts Corps and local area foodbanks. The $7.00 (!) compilation, which was produced, curated, and funded by Caffe Vita, will be available online here. Physical compilations can be picked up at all Caffe Vita locations, Easy Street Records, Sonic Boom Records, University Book Store, The Crocodile, EMP, Neumo's, and Sorrento Hotel. The in-hand compilations will include a physical card with a redemption code for the download, and a prettied-up sleeve to make it a ready-to-give present.

Here's the full track listing -- nearly all of which are exclusive to the compilation:

The Blakes and USE rumble at the Crocodile tonight

ChrisB — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:46:12 +0000

The group Future Sounds sponsors a series of shows across the country in selected cities (New York, Los Angeles, Portland, San Diego and San Francisco). Tonight (Monday, August 3), they are kicking off the first Rumble in Seattle. It features Battle Hymns, USE and The Blakes.

This is a monthly event in all of the other cities, although I can't confirm that it's not a one-off thing in Seattle. I'm sure that if it's a success, they'll certainly schedule more.

Also, it should be worth noting that our friends from USE will be headlining the West coast Rumbles in September.

Doors open at 8, 21+ and the cover is only $5.

Capitol Hill Block Party 2009 {Friday}

Chelsea Werner — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 07:43:48 +0000

24 Jul 2009

Block party started off mellow enough with the sultry blues of The Dutchess and The Duke kicking off Friday on the main stage at 4 pm with “Reservoir Park,” the gravel between Jesse Lortz and Kimberly Morrison’s deep vocal harmonies foreshadowing the fine layer of grit that would coat my skin by the end of the day.

As far as I could tell The Dutchess and The Duke didn’t have much of a set list planned and they informed the audience that their bassist had only practiced with them three times before. Considering Lortz has a new-born and the band is gearing up for a month long tour with Modest Mouse to release their new album Sunrise/Sunset, their unplanned set seemed effortlessly smooth. I guess this can be expected from these two Seattleites who have known each other since high school and played in a multitude of bands in and around Seattle (watch the imaginary interview).

In the four songs I caught the end of the Flexions eclectic set on the Vera Stage, they ranged from droned-out synthy shoegaze to catchy surf tunes, their songs breaking and popping into variations on intstrumental themes aided by the computer behind guitarist Devin Welch and bassist Robin Stein. Their wide range of sounds allowed one song to cast a heavy darkness over the late afternoon or drop an up-beat ray, reminiscent of Tom Waits’ Real Gone, onto 10th avenue. Despite all their ambience, their stage presence was lacking.

From the little I overheard of Spinerette I didn’t need to get any closer to make out Brody’s distinct singing that failed to make Spinerette its own beast, distinguishable from The Distillers. With little to learn from that set, I headed back to the Vera Stage for Bow + Arrow.

Since Benj Rouse has been a powerhouse drummer behind this band on his own, I was excited to see what Bow + Arrow would do with the inclusion of a second drummer. The division of drum duties didn’t deliver any overwhelming energy to their set. The drums mostly served to bring together the choppy transitions. Lucas Thilman’s apology for being a jam band at the end of their set felt out of place. Despite the improvisational nature of this show, Bow + Arrow’s show was a genuine display of a hardcore band enjoying themselves in light of their immanent disbanding (watch the imaginary interview).

As I was headed to Neumo’s stage to see The Blakes, I got distracted by a cover of “Born to Be Wild” being played by The Black Lips on the main stage and lingered behind the beer barrier long enough to hear “Hippie, Hippie, Hoorah” and realize that the sound of crackling coming from their equipment wasn’t intentional, but sounded great.

I left the sweet yips and hisses of the Southern trio to be smothered by the deafening heat and distorted guitar of The Blakes inside Neumo’s. Their audience couldn’t help but be enthused by the sheer volume of the sound blowing over them--every single one of their instruments could have been turned down. Over all they were a solid bang-out band and the end of their set was comprised of songs that sounded like a mix of The Stooges and The Stones—Their recorded material is not so straightforward. If you care to look closer into this anomaly, look for their new album, Souvenir, out in October.

Back at the Vera Stage I was immediately sure that Micachu and The Shapes were the gem of the festival. Little Mica Levi strummed away on her modified guitar, a tiny little thing played with a hammer action called a chu and a bowed instrument fashioned from a CD rack. Next to Raisa Khan’s keyboard there were two empty wine bottles on cymbal stands and two cowbells. Attached to the full drum set, manned by Marc Pell, was more cowbell. Let’s just say, no one could ever fault Micachu and The Shapes for a lack of cowbell.

Throughout their set the keyboards hummed over spoken and spewed vocals, suddenly turning into an electronic thrashing for your eardrums. Harnessing the crackle of technical difficulties that The Black Lips hadn’t intended and placing it with meaning into the jarring keys, their songs slowly settled into brief melodic interludes and frenetically moved into syncopated blues. Overarching melodies were discernable through the veneer of cowbell and cymbal tinkling down over Mica’s horrendously perfect throat moans into the microphone, like raindrops jaggedly making their way down a window pane in a thunder storm.

At the end of Micachu and The Shapes’ most straight forward song, “Golden Phone,” Khan started slamming her palms along the keys and the song dissolved into a brief stint of insanity before it became even more pop-along-to and descended once again into what makes this band great—Not writing straightforward songs, but using punk sensibilities to contort pop into fun and unexpected shapes.

Even while I couldn’t tear myself away from Vera Stage even a little early, I knew, throughout Micachu and The Shapes’ set, Deerhunter was starting any minute. Thankfully, Mica and the band were also extremely interested in Deerhunter and so we all headed over to the main stage, pushing to the front of what had, in the past hour or so, become a packed to capacity and much more intoxicated block party.

What summed up Deerhunter’s set was the look plastered on the bassist’s face. His expression was as dreamy as even their most aggressive songs can be. They escalated from instrumental ambience to catchy melodies and on into extended bridges rife with riffs and danceable drums without ever falling into a self-indulgent solo.

Lead singer, Bradford Cox laughed off mistakes during “Rainwater Cassette Exchange,” and while playing “Agoraphobia,” the bassist turned his sunglasses upside down. A little guy ran out on stage in a trench coat with a bottle of Makers Mark, yelled incoherently into the mic and ran back off. Was it one of the members of The Black Lips? The bottle stayed on stage and they ended their set with “Operation,” off Weird Era Cont.

Built to Spill played a set packed full of audience picks and it was nice to know that my fellow city dwellers share much the same taste as me in the songs that make Built To Spill’s albums meaningful, including “Carry the Zero,” “You Were Right,” and “Reasons,” to name a very brief few. After reveling in sing-a-longs and a youthful nostalgia, made all the more sensory for the scent rising from the damp cement in the slight drizzle, I sauntered over to the Vera stage once again.

I am pretty sure that my pinky toe is broken from jumping around in the Mika Miko mosh pit with a crowd that seemed more excited by the dance injected punk noise than the band. Singer/saxophonist/keyboardist Jenna Thornhill repeatedly lamented that last year they played the small stage and this year, they were playing the small stage. The size of the stage hardly mattered, as they were the perfect way to regain a bit of the enthusiasm that had waned as day one of Capitol Hill Block Party came to an end.

(Mika Miko photo by joshc from the TIG flickr photo pool)

All of the photos without photo credit noted above are from Trickshot Photography... see them all!

Kyle Johnson's Top Ten Live Music Photos of 2008

Kyle Johnson — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 01:05:43 +0000

TIG photographer Kyle Johnson has been quite busy this year. Taking the impeccable press and editorial photos as well as covering shows and festivals for TIG, Kyle has amassed a great portfolio for 2008.

Here's a recap of his personal favs from the past year.

Win tickets to see the Blakes with the Broken West

imaginary dana — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:25:36 +0000

Three Imaginary Girls has two pairs of tickets for two lucky winners to the Blakes/Broken West show at Neumo's next Tuesday, June 24th.

Flickr photo(s) of the day: Sasquatch faves

imaginary dana — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:22:22 +0000

We had loads of Sasquatch photos posted to the TIG Sparkly Indie-Pop Photos pool, and we've selected a few faves to share with you.

Lollapalooza lineup announced

imaginary dana — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:15:19 +0000

The lineup not only includes my favorite new UK crush band Noah and the Whale, but also features local Seattle band the Blakes!

Top 50 Imaginary keywords this month

imaginary dana — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 04:10:25 +0000

For the keyword curious, here's the full top 50 ways folks found TIG in Google last month.

Free Show Saturday: The Detroit Cobras at the High Dive

imaginary liz — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 19:26:40 +0000

If your start of the month tight on funds, head over to the High Dive for a FREE SHOW! And if you're thinking free equals lame, you're way off. Saturday's bill is amazing with a capital exclamation!

Kyle Johnson's Top Ten Local Live Music Photos of 07

Kyle Johnson — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 15:42:26 +0000

2007 was the first year I really got into shooting live music. Its a great form of photography that you cannot fully apreciate until you have shot it. Every show is a challenge. You often cannot be sure of how much time you will have, lighting conditions, how many other photographers are shooting, where you will be able to shoot from, etc.

That being said, I have seen countless amazing Live shots from our talented NW Photogs. I decided to include five shots from other photographers and five of my personal favorites I shot from the past year. Aww the memories. In no particular order...

Best of 2007: Joseph Riippi's minima-lists

Joseph Riippi — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 19:00:14 +0000

Anyone who knows me outside of the HTML world knows two things:

I am a big guy.
I don't know my way around HTML very well.

In order to thwart my big-guy status, I've done many things over time. First, I enjoy minimalist art a lot more than big, bombastic art. This carries to music as well: I think the Arcade Fire are gloriously over-rated (too big) and prefer the more subtle stylings from big bands like that of Broken Social Scene. Arena rock was great. But it's over. Let's move on.

In any case, given that I like minimalism and I don't know my way around HTML very well, I've opted to display my lists for 2007 WITHOUT the bombast of YouTube videos and such. You want to hear a sample of something? Ask Google. They're small guys and they know their way around HTML. I'm sure they can find you a YouTube video or free MP3.

That said, here are my lists for the TOP SEVEN best albums of Oh SEVEN (in general) and the TOP SEVEN best albums out of the Northwest:

Best of 2007

Radiohead—In Rainbows
Amon Tobin—Foley Room
Elliott Smith—New Moon
LCD Soundsystem—Sound of Silver
Philip Glass and Leonard Cohen—Book of Longing
The Blakes—The Blakes
Slow Six—Nor’Easter

Best Northwest of 2007

New releases for the week, from Easy Street Records

Jflores — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 19:32:06 +0000

My friend Tim saw Jimmy Eat World at the Showbox @ the Market last Thursday and claims that the new material is good and that they are more than just a nostalgia band. I still think I will like the new Underworld record better!

The Blakes all-ages EP release show

Imaginary Kiku — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 22:20:07 +0000

5 Oct 2007

blakes07oct.jpg

The Blakes have taken the Seattle music scene by storm in a very short amount of time, and they've earned it, releasing two EPs and a self-titled full-length record {review} in less than a year.

They've played SXSW, Sasquatch, Seafair, and Bumbershoot this year alone, and are just about to launch into a huge nationwide tour. Really, I'm exhausted just thinking about all that.

Last night was their release party, both at VERA and later at the Crocodile Cafe (these guys don't take a break!), celebrating their new EP release on local label Light in the Attic Records, Streets {review}. Although their set was pretty short -- probably because they had to skip across town to sound check at the Croc -- their energy was astounding, even after a night of drunken partying (or so I read in the Seattle Times that morning). I've heard about the Blakes quite a bit, but I'd never actually listened to them before...

The Blakes. Photo by Eduardo Brambila.

...Hearing them for the first time live, I was struck with the impression that this must be what it would feel like to see the Rolling Stones before their rise to fame; leather, tight pants, and all. Their guitar riffs had a definite bluesy feel, their hooks were solid and catchy, and their songs were driven by the loud yet balanced sounds of bass, drums, and guitar -- everything I'd expect from experienced classic rockers. The emergence of a subtle keyboard riff in the fourth song really completed the sound, and made me giddy (I love well-placed keys).

The Blakes. Photo by Chona Kasinger.

The last song came much too soon, but when it did the band got even livelier. Halfway through, a large man leapt on stage and started dancing and singing along. How rude, I thought. It took me a minute to realize this was a guy from the Saturday Knights, who were playing after the Blakes that night. Bassist Snow Keim handed the stage-crasher a tambourine, and everyone cheered. Soon after, as the song was reaching its climax, another member of the Saturday Knights hopped across stage banging loudly on a cowbell. It was a fantastic close, as guitarist Garnet Keim was absolutely shredding and sharing a mic with his brother, the Saturday Knights were jumping around (and they knew all the words!), and the crazy fangirls I've come to associate with great indie-rock bands were melting with pleasure.

The Saturday Knights. Photo by Eduardo Brambila.

It was a fantastic show, not only because of the Blakes' high-energy performance, but because of their opening act Dept. of Energy. I'd heard great things about this band, and they did not disappoint. Like I've said, I love any band with great keys, and these guys definitely had that. They looked like those kind of geeky kids at school who secretly lead amazingly cool lives. Their synth was incredibly catchy, almost jazzy, and lead singer Robb Benson had a voice that could have competed in American Idol. I'm very excited to see more of them; I'll be keeping my eye out.

Dept. of Energy. Photo by Eduardo Brambila.

As for the Blakes, they're about to take the country by storm, and all we'll be left with is that classic line, "I liked them before they were cool."

The Blakes. Photo by Eduardo Brambila.

Their guitar riffs had a definite bluesy feel, their hooks were solid and catchy, and their songs were driven by the loud yet balanced sounds of bass, drums, and guitar -- everything I'd expect from experienced classic rockers.

Streets (Limited Edition EP)

imaginary stella — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 04:35:32 +0000

6.1

http://lightintheattic.net/releases/theblakes/streetsep.php

theblakes-streetsep-cover.jpg

Local boys The Blakes keep churning out the releases! Just on the heels of their debut full-length is Streets, a five-track quickie that includes three songs from the self-titled LP. I'd actually consider this an expanded single, though they're billing it as a stand-alone EP.

The two new tracks, "Die" and "Village Green," feature the threepiece exploring their psychedelic side. I can't help but think of The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" days on both songs. And "Village Green" wanders Down Under toward The Vines' sound: strained, long-drawn-out vocals, minor keys, and subtle angst.

The new material isn't their best (I tend to prefer their straightforward rockier numbers). But the EP is worth picking up as a collector's item: It's foil-stamped and oh-so-shiny.

New releases for the week, from Easy Street Records

Jflores — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 22:05:56 +0000

Featuring the Blakes, the Pipettes, PJ Harvey, and more!

The Blakes on MTV

imaginary stella — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:42:17 +0000

I don't know who sets up the music for this show (the episode also featured an Amy Winehouse track and The Cure's "Boys Don't Cry"), but I was mighty impressed!

New releases for the week, from Easy Street Records

Jflores — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 20:53:25 +0000

SO MUCH GOOD MUSIC THIS WEEK!

Also tonight: Eric Howk benefit, VIP DJ sets

imaginary liz — Thu, 24 May 2007 15:56:57 +0000

The smell of SIFF is in the air and boy is it tasty! But if you're in the mood for something less cinematic, there's a couple other things that could tickle your fancy.

The Blakes sign to Light in the Attic records

imaginary dana — Thu, 17 May 2007 21:01:28 +0000

I've been wondering who was gonna snatch those fellas up, and I'm thrilled to see they've picked a label close to home.

Fests are upon us: Part 4: Bumbershoot update

imaginary dana — Wed, 02 May 2007 19:33:56 +0000

In other Bumbershoot news, the bands of local bands on the roster has grown...